History of Napoleon Bonaparte (Volume 1); And Wars of Europe, from the Revolution in France to the Termination of the Late Wars, Including Anecdotes of the Most Celebrated Characters That Have Appeared During and Since the Revolution (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Envy of the Nobles ? Censures on the Queen. every virtue, they could not be accused of any vice; and, had thfy been happily siirroumlal by a court and a people as pare as 'themselves, their reign might luivc been truly happy for themselves, .and prosperous for their country: but the insolent arrogance of tho nobility, and the supercilious bigotry of the clergy 4 knew no bounds, and the sovereign was constantly restrained from indulging the benevolence of Ms heart by those who would have been disgraced by the precedent. The education of their majesties had by no moans taught them to husband the splendor with which their exalted rank enabled them to dazzle the eyes of their greedy attendants: ihe innocent pre-eminence they preserved just above the heads of the voluptuous nobles, excited the envy of all the vicious and the vain, who unceasingly repine at the enjoyments of others, when the consciousness of crime destroys the relish of their own. This malignant spirit 'soon found an opportunity of displaying itself. The queen being a foreigner, the most bitter censures might be pointed against her with' out wounding the national vanity of the French people for their country, and therefore the heroes of the! great nation commenced an attack upon her conduct, and, by a series of uninterrupted calumnies, persuaded the vulgar and ignorant rabble, who knew no history beyond that of their own Fauxbourgs, that all the confusion of the state had been produced by this one woman. Circumstanced as the country was, the utmost vigour and promptitude were required of (he government. Unr fortunately, the king possessed neither, and the system of patching and mending, adopted in the former reign, was still pursued. YOi. I. Causes of iho Wretchedness among the People. Had the k...